Chapter 62
Sixty-Two
Gina
Interview over, she ran to the kitchen and started to hammer her hands onto the tiny worktop.
Cups bounced and the sugar pot tipped up.
She let out a roar and kicked the bin, letting all the pent-up rage out on the cylinder until the metal had dented.
It tipped over, rewarding her efforts with a spray of used teabags and empty food containers landing all over the linoleum flooring. Her phone beeped. It was Brodie.
Just wondering how you are. I miss you so much. The weekend can’t come too soon. I hope the case isn’t too consuming. Xxx
She hit reply.
My heart has broken for O’Connor. I don’t know what to do and all the same, there is nothing I can do.
She popped a crying emoji at the end as she wiped her own tears away with a sheet of kitchen roll. He pinged a message straight back.
What’s happened? X
With trembling hands, she typed a message back.
The perp stabbed O’Connor and I don’t know if he’s going to make it.
She hugged herself and slid down the back wall as she stared at her phone.
I’m leaving now. You shouldn’t be alone.
You don’t have to.
They hadn’t been together long at all. She didn’t expect him to drop his life and run to her but at the same time, her heart ached for someone to give her a big hug and be there for her. He replied.
I know I don’t but I want to. I’ll head your way and I’ll give you a call when I’m close. X
She sent him one final message, telling him to use the key she gave him to get into her house.
She had no idea how long she’d be at the station and she still had to go to the hospital, and she still had no idea what Operation Big Picture was.
What else was there to come? They had the perp in custody.
Wyre was in contact with the CPS and it looked like they’d be formally charging him soon, his confession making all their lives easier.
She sat there, spent, hurt and raging inside.
She should be at the hospital, speaking to Tabitha and Brian, while waiting for news on O’Connor but she couldn’t get off the floor.
Her legs were putting up a protest every time she tried to stand.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor behind the kitchen door and their owner pushed the door open.
Briggs stood in the doorway and furrowed his brows.
She wondered if he had any news on O’Connor.
He reached out to her and offered her a hand, which she took.
With one pull he helped her onto her feet where she shifted slightly to lean against the worktop.
He started picking up the rubbish from the floor, not once commenting on the dented bin, or mess over the worktop. ‘Have you heard anything?’ she asked.
He shook his head.
She wanted to think that no news was good news but she knew that was all a load of rubbish. No news was the unknown and it could go either way still.
However hard she tried to stop her tears from spilling in front of her boss and ex-lover, she couldn’t so she turned away.
He popped the bin back in its place, walked over to her and wrapped his strong arms around her.
She sunk her head into his chest and sobbed, inhaling the faint scent of his aftershave.
As his hands stroked her back, she reached up and put her arms around him, accepting his embrace.
‘We can’t lose him,’ she said in a whisper.
Briggs didn’t offer any words of comfort.
He knew her too well to come out with some rubbish like it was all going to be okay.
Instead, he just rubbed her back like a caring friend would.
It touched her that he still cared. She hadn’t seen that side of him in a while and she couldn’t help but think of Brodie.
It shouldn’t have felt so good to be that close to Briggs again but it did.
Her emotions were all over the place. She wanted it to work with Brodie and she was going to do all she could to make sure it did.
A moment later, he pulled away and just as he was about to fill the kettle up, Jacob burst through the door. ‘Guv, sir, Garth needs us in the incident room now. Operation Big Picture – we know what it is.’